Say "science" to fourth-graders at Barnett Shoals Elementary
School in Athens, Ga., and you might get excited accounts of
making "ocean" waves or using Hula Hoops to section off
schoolyard areas to count living bugs and plants. Science is
hands-on and fun.

Last semester, these students and their teachers worked on
different science projects with Eva Daneke, a University of
Georgia student from Duluth, Ga., majoring in environmental
health sciences.

Through Project FOCUS (Fostering Our Community's
Understanding of
Science), Daneke and 11 other UGA students were teamed up with
Barnett Shoals teachers to bring hands-on science to kindergarten
through fifth-grader students.

Project FOCUS is a new program of the UGA College of
Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences (CAES). It serves two purposes, said
David Knauft, CAES associate dean of academic affairs.

Making science fun

"It allows us to do some community service," Knauft
said. "And it
also exposes kids to science that's fun and meaningful. Our
students provide the teachers with a second pair of hands and a
depth of science background that many elementary school teachers
do not have."

Since much of the science in the CAES is applied science, he
said, it's easier to simplify for young students.

"The kids liked all of the projects," said Daneke, who worked
with two fourth-grade classes.

"Their favorite was probably making craters," she said. "We
dropped marbles, golf balls and tennis balls from different
heights into pans of flour to demonstrate the conditions in space
that create craters. It made a big mess, and they loved it."

Concept originated in Atlanta

The idea to pair college science students with elementary
school
teachers was based on Elementary Science Education Partners, a
joint project of Atlanta public schools and seven Atlanta-area
colleges and universities, said FOCUS coordinator Jim
Spellman.

"FOCUS has been a really good experience for the students,"
Spellman said.

"Many UGA students come from metro Atlanta, from affluent,
mostly
white schools," he said. "Barnett Shoals Elementary is really
diverse. It gave them a much better understanding of the problems
in education and the challenges facing teachers. It also allowed
students to see how much work is involved in preparation to teach
a class."

On Saturday, Jan. 11, a new crop of UGA students will spend
the
day at Barnett Shoals in a Project FOCUS orientation session.
They'll learn some basics about elementary education, lesson
planning and the classrooms where they will work.

The program requires that the CAES students agree to spend at
least three hours per week in the classroom, teaching
science.

(Cat Holmes was a science writer with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)